a good deal on wine. So when he was recently suggested a comparison be- tween wine pricing and his company’s cost structure—he readily admits it is not the industry low—he ran with it. “A good buyer throws out the high
MGIF’s Management Mantra R
Manitowoc Grey Iron Foundry plots its survival by operating according to a central rule: only take jobs it can keep.
Shea Gibbs, Senior Editor
obert Peaslee, a third genera- tion president of Manitowoc Grey Iron Foundry (MGIF), Manitowoc, Wis., loves wine. Particularly, he loves finding
Manitowoc Grey Iron Foundry Manitowoc, Wis.
Metals Cast: Gray iron, ductile iron, compacted graphite iron, high-silicon-molybdenum iron, austempered ductile iron.
Molding Process: Green sand.
Markets Served: Off-road automotive, agricul- ture, construction, mining, pump, valve.
and the low quote and looks at the next two or three,” Peaslee said. “You don’t want the $50 bottle or the Two Buck Chuck. But somewhere in between, there is a reasonable bottle of wine that is about $10-20, and it’s perfect.” Peaslee hopes his customers feel the
same way, and judging by the com- pany’s success over the past decade—it had close to the best year in its history in 2008 and is now gradually climbing back to those levels—they do.
Everything as a Profit Center One of the strategies MGIF has
used to stay successful over the years is to view every facet of the company as a potential profit center. If Peaslee sees raw material prices trending in the right direction, for example, he’ll purchase an excess and warehouse it until he can make castings out of it at a higher margin. “Workman’s compensation—that’s
[another] profit center,” Peaslee said. “[And] spending money on safety is one of the best returns on investment you can make.” It’s this strategy that has led to signifi-
cant changes at MGIF over the past 12 months. In mid-2009, the metalcaster, along with two others in Wisconsin, signed onto the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Save Energy Now (SEN) program. The goal of the national em- phasis program is to contract with busi- nesses in power-intensive industries to reduce their energy consumption by 25% in 10 years. “We’ve invested a lot of money in
MODERN CASTING / November 2010 Size: 75,000 sq. ft. Employees: 72.
energy saving projects at MGIF and have nearly reached our goal already,” Peaslee said. According to the parameters of the
SEN program, DOE will help busi- nesses fund only projects that have a return on investment of one and a half to four years. So Peaslee expects the improvements the company has made (estimated at about $500,000) to become a profit center in short order. “Think about how wonderful sav-
ing money is,” Peaslee said. “You don’t have to add people or increase revenues to add to your bottom line. Anything that saves you money is a
profit center. Anything you can do to reduce costs will keep you more com- petitive, and you can maintain a profit margin without raising prices.” MGIF has made the following capital
improvements, the last of which was completed in early August: • Frequency drives, which control de- mand, were installed on the facility’s sand muller, dust collectors and air make-up units.
• A green sand dust recycling system was installed to reduce scrap, save bond and improve casting yield and surface finish.
• Lighting was updated in all plants. • Motion detectors, which turn lights on and off in low traffic areas, were installed.
• A compressor study was conducted to optimize the company’s air re- quirements, and a plant-wide header system was installed, along with a frequency drive compressor.
• Dust collector after-filters, which al- low air to be returned to the plant, were installed.
• A new automatic molding machine, which reduces scrap and increases casting yield, was added to the com- pany’s molding capabilities.
MGIF’s coreless induction furnaces help the company reach its energy goals by eliminating hold power on weekends and holidays.
31
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166 |
Page 167 |
Page 168 |
Page 169 |
Page 170 |
Page 171 |
Page 172 |
Page 173 |
Page 174 |
Page 175 |
Page 176 |
Page 177 |
Page 178 |
Page 179 |
Page 180 |
Page 181 |
Page 182 |
Page 183 |
Page 184 |
Page 185 |
Page 186 |
Page 187 |
Page 188 |
Page 189 |
Page 190 |
Page 191 |
Page 192 |
Page 193 |
Page 194 |
Page 195 |
Page 196